Syracuse, NY -- Matt Lyde-Cajuste has been characterized throughout his Syracuse basketball career as the “smart” one.

He started his academic career as an aerospace engineering major, then switched to mechanical engineering. The senior from Mount Vernon already has secured a job with J.P. Morgan Chase when he graduates.

But Lyde-Cajuste might need to apply some brawn to go with those brains this weekend. With SU down to seven recruited scholarship athletes, Lyde-Cajuste could be pressed into service when Syracuse faces Pittsburgh Saturday at noon (ESPN).

SU coach Jim Boeheim told him that very thing.

“He came up to me a few days ago and he told me obviously, we’ve got guys that are injured and guys that are out for other reasons and that I’m going to have to be ready,” Lyde-Cajuste said. “If he needs me I’ll have to be ready and do what I have to do.”

James Southerland’s Syracuse career continues to hang in academic limbo, though he is able to practice with the Orange. And earlier this week, freshman center Dajuan Coleman had surgery to repair one of his knees. The Jamesville-DeWitt graduate gingerly made his way through the Melo Center on crutches Wednesday afternoon as his teammates practiced. Coleman is expected to miss at least four weeks as he recovers from surgery.

That leaves the Orange with four healthy bodies along its front line. Baye Moussa Keita and Rakeem Christmas are the SU centers; C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant play the forward spots. Christmas can also rotate to the forward position.

Lyde-Cajuste, who concedes he is 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5, ran track and played football, hockey and basketball at Iona Prep. He walked on to the SU basketball team as a freshman and this season earned a scholarship.

Matt Lyde-Cajuste works during a Syracuse practice earlier this season.Dennis Nett|syracuse.com

He is thickly muscled and uses that brawn to his advantage on the basketball court.

“My physicality and my aggressiveness - those are two of my biggest traits on the basketball court,” he said.

Over the years, he has rumbled with SU centers, a fleet of big men that included Arinze Onuaku, Rick Jackson and Fab Melo. This year, Lyde-Cajuste works more with SU’s forwards, a position he likely will play if Boeheim calls his name on Saturday.

“He’s definitely a physical player,” Grant said. “He does great in practice - he definitely gives us a run for our money. It would be great to see him actually get on the court.”

“He’s a physical guy. He’s a pretty good defensive guy,” Keita said. “I have no doubt in my mind that he’ll be fine when he gets in there.”

The Orange plays at Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Panthers, known for their tough, tenacious basketball brand, starts a front line that goes 7-foot (Steven Adams), 6-foot-9 (Talib Zanna) and 6-foot-5 (Lamar Patterson). The Panthers rank third in the Big East (conference games only) in rebound margin and are the league’s best offensive rebounding squad.

Lyde-Cajuste said he hopes to remedy his height disadvantage with his strength and smarts.

“Strength and physicality are extremely important,” Lyde-Cajuste said. “But intuition and basketball IQ can be more important than any of those traits. It's knowing what they’re most likely going to do in certain situations and being able beat guys to places that you imagine they’ll be.”

Lyde-Cajuste is trying to tell himself that Saturday will be just another day in his basketball career. But the idea that he might play for the Orange against Pittsburgh, in a nationally televised game, has occurred to him.

“There are obviously some nerves there,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I’ll have to remember it’s basketball. And coach wouldn’t put me out there if he didn’t feel that I was ready.”